Also See the Library's Blogs Related to Doing Research Interviews

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have posts related to Doing Research Interviews. Scan down the blog's page to
see various posts. Also see the section "Recent Blog Posts" in the
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Introduction

Interviews are particularly useful for getting the
story behind a participant's experiences. The interviewer can
pursue in-depth information around a topic. Interviews may be
useful as follow-up to certain respondents to questionnaires,
e.g., to further investigate their responses. Usually open-ended
questions are asked during interviews.

Before you start to design your interview questions and process,
clearly articulate to yourself what problem or need is to be addressed
using the information to be gathered by the interviews. This helps
you keep clear focus on the intent of each question.

Preparation for Interview

Choose a setting with little distraction.
Avoid loud lights or noises, ensure the interviewee is
comfortable (you might ask them if they are), etc. Often, they
may feel more comfortable at their own places of work or homes.

Explain the purpose of the interview.

Address terms of confidentiality. Note any terms
of confidentiality. (Be careful here. Rarely can you absolutely
promise anything. Courts may get access to information, in certain
circumstances.) Explain who will get access to their answers and
how their answers will be analyzed. If their comments are to be
used as quotes, get their written permission to do so. See
getting informed consent.

Explain the format of the interview.
Explain the type of interview you are conducting
and its nature. If you want them to ask questions, specify if
they're to do so as they have them or wait until the end of the
interview.

Indicate how long the interview usually takes.

Tell them how to get in touch with you later if they
want to.

Ask them if they have any questions before you
both get started with the interview.

Don't count on your memory to recall their answers.
Ask for permission to record the interview or bring along someone
to take notes.

Types of Interviews

Informal, conversational interview - no predetermined questions are
asked, in order to remain as open and adaptable as possible to the interviewee's
nature and priorities; during the interview, the interviewer "goes with
the flow".

General interview guide approach - the guide approach is intended
to ensure that the same general areas of information are collected from each
interviewee; this provides more focus than the conversational approach, but
still allows a degree of freedom and adaptability in getting information from
the interviewee.

Standardized, open-ended interview - here, the same open-ended questions
are asked to all interviewees (an open-ended question is where respondents
are free to choose how to answer the question, i.e., they don't select "yes"
or "no" or provide a numeric rating, etc.); this approach facilitates
faster interviews that can be more easily analyzed and compared.

Closed, fixed-response interview - where all interviewees are asked
the same questions and asked to choose answers from among the same set of
alternatives. This format is useful for those not practiced in interviewing.

Types of Topics in Questions

Patton notes six kinds of questions. One can ask questions
about:

Behaviors -
about what a person has done or is doing

Opinions/values -
about what a person thinks about a topic

Feelings -
note that respondents sometimes respond
with "I think ..." so be careful to note that you're
looking for feelings

Knowledge -
to get facts about a topic

Sensory -
about what people have seen, touched, heard, tasted or smelled

Note that the above questions can be asked in terms of past,
present or future.

Sequence of Questions

Get the respondents involved in the interview as soon
as possible.

Before asking about controversial matters (such as feelings
and conclusions), first ask about some facts. With this
approach, respondents can more easily engage in the interview
before warming up to more personal matters.

Intersperse fact-based questions throughout the interview
to avoid long lists of fact-based questions, which tends to leave
respondents disengaged.

Ask questions about the present before questions about
the past or future. It's usually easier for them to talk
about the present and then work into the past or future.

The last questions might be to allow respondents to provide
any other information they prefer to add and their impressions
of the interview.

Wording of Questions

Wording should be open-ended.
Respondents should
be able to choose their own terms when answering questions.

Questions should be worded clearly. This includes
knowing any terms particular to the program or the respondents'
culture.

Be careful asking "why" questions. This
type of question infers a cause-effect relationship that may not
truly exist. These questions may also cause respondents to feel
defensive, e.g., that they have to justify their response, which
may inhibit their responses to this and future questions.

Conducting Interview

Occasionally verify the tape recorder (if
used) is working.

Ask one question at a time.

Attempt to remain as neutral as possible. That
is, don't show strong emotional reactions to their responses.
Patton suggests to act as if "you've heard it all before."

Encourage responses with occasional nods of the
head, "uh huh"s, etc.

Be careful about the appearance when note taking. That
is, if you jump to take a note, it may appear as if you're surprised
or very pleased about an answer, which may influence answers to
future questions.

Provide transition between major topics, e.g.,
"we've been talking about (some topic) and now I'd like to
move on to (another topic)."

Don't lose control of the interview. This can
occur when respondents stray to another topic, take so long to
answer a question that times begins to run out, or even begin
asking questions to the interviewer.

Immediately After Interview

Verify if the tape recorder, if used, worked throughout
the interview.

Make any notes on your written notes,
e.g., to clarify any scratchings, ensure pages are numbered, fill
out any notes that don't make senses, etc.

Write down any observations made during the interview.
For example, where did the interview occur and when, was the respondent
particularly nervous at any time? Were there any surprises during
the interview? Did the tape recorder break?

Recommended Books

Evaluation (General)

The following books are recommended because of their highly practical nature and often
because they include a wide range of information about this Library topic. To get more information about
each book, just click on the image of the book. Also, a "bubble" of information might be displayed. You can click
on the title of the book in that bubble to get more information, too.

Program Evaluation

The following books are recommended because of their highly practical nature and often
because they include a wide range of information about this Library topic. To get more information about
each book, just click on the image of the book. Also, a "bubble" of information might be displayed. You can click
on the title of the book in that bubble to get more information, too.

by Carter McNamara, published by Authenticity Consulting, LLC.
There are few books, if any, that explain how to carefully plan, organize, develop and evaluate a nonprofit program.
Also, too many books completely separate the highly integrated activities of planning, marketing and evaluating programs.
This book integrates all three into a comprehensive, straightforward approach that anyone can follow in order to
provide high-quality programs with strong appeal to funders. Includes many online forms that can be downloaded.
Many materials in this Library topic are adapted from this book.